IRVING POLLACK WAS INTERVIEWED BY DAVID SILVER OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION HISTORICAL SOCIETY ON JANUARY 16, 2002
Irving ("Irv") Pollack worked for the Securities Exchange Commission in various capacities from 1946 to 1980 and was appointed Commissioner under Ray Garrett's chairmanship 1973.
THIS IS A MEMORIAL WEBSITE. THE QUOTED SECTION IS TAKEN VERBATIM from The Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society AS INDICATED ABOVE. FOR A COMPLETE ARTICLE, PLEASE VISIT THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.

p. 17 - 23
DS: "I realize, of course, that chairmen differ from each other, problems differ from generation to generation. But was there a change or shift from what one might call the institutional role of the chairman of the SEC vis-a-vis control of the commissioners, control over the operations of the agency?"

IP: "Yes. I think that the chairman has become more dominant in his leadership role, particularly in recent years. I think if you go back to the Cary days and the Cohen days and the Garrett days and Budge (being Judge Budge) and Casey . . . Casey was a very dominant person and probably started what I would think was the control of the chairman over the agenda and really in the policies of the Commission more. People like Cary, because of their personal abilities and their personality, were able to exercise effective policy moves on the part of the Commission. So with Cary coming in, you have a much more intensive participation in the strategy and policy movements of the Commission. And, of course, you have Manny Cohen and that period, which was very effective. That period was a period of great activity really greatly influenced from the top by the Commissioner. And then in Judge Budge's time, he came, remember, from Idaho. He had a feel for the smaller person and the smaller broker dealer and that was helpful, because he was emphasizing, "Go after the big guys. The little guys can't do that much damage, the big guys are the ones." That western philosophy was helpful...."

DS: "Since you mentioned the chairmen, if you had to pick out three or four of the chairmen you've known all the time you've been associated with the Commission, what three or four would you say were the most outstanding chairmen and what were their contributions?"

IP: "Well, I'd start with Cary. I think he really was the person who established the foundation for insider trading prosecutions and insider trader adjudication. That's something that I would give him a great deal of credit for. Manny Cohen also had the great quality of having tremendous knowledge of the historical experiences of the Commission and was largely responsible for the unfixing of commission rates. It was under his administration that that program really got going and he was very effective. It was really an area, too, where there were great strides made in expanding the enforcement area of injunctions and the remedies and all of that on that area. Casey was also instrumental in some of the areas. But I would say two of the outstanding ones, in my view, are Cary and Cohen.

"Garrett is probably the other one who I would put in the top three. Garrett came in at a time when, in the history of the Commission, it was the first time there had been any scandal at the top. That was with respect to the appointment of Brad Cook. That got involved with the Nixon's contributions, Stans, Mitchell, and whoever the third one was. Garrett really ran a great Commission table, Al Sommer was a great lawyer. Phil Loomis, who was a tremendous lawyer, was very capable. John Evans was a very principled person with an economic background.

"I think that was a period recognized to have one of the best Commissions in the history of the Commission, when you're talking about the Commission as a whole. Garrett would listen. And remember, he was responsible for my appointment. There would be cases where I would take positions different from his in various matters. For example, let's take in the foreign corrupt practice area, that kind of stuff. Having come from Chicago, Garrett's view was, you know, this goes on all the time, bribery and this other stuff. You can't get too excited about that. My position was that if you allow that to happen, once you get that corruption, it's going to spread in the organization. You can't have these little things going on and have it permeate up the line from the top on down.

"Whatever the differences were, it was a pleasure, because it was a very excellent discussion. You would have different views but they would really be considered. I think we reached excellent judgments with good analysis of stuff in that. That area was also one in which the Commission's reputation really took off, despite the Brad Cook episode....

"You know, I served under thirteen -- at least thirteen. I think -- different chairmen of the Commissions. At this stage they all kind of mesh together, except for the ones that stand out for a particular reason.'

* Read the entire Interview

back